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In the ever-shifting landscape of the job market, the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of revolutionary. As career coaches, we’ve witnessed firsthand how these advanced tools can drastically alter the trajectory of a job search, refining the process with a precision that was once unimaginable. AI has permeated various sectors – optimizing resumes, personalizing job recommendations and even aiding in interview preparation. For career coaches in Canada, understanding and integrating AI tools into our practices is not just an edge – it’s becoming a necessity. By embracing this digital transformation, we can offer candidates an unparalleled advantage in crafting their career paths, ensuring they stay competitive and relevant in a market that is increasingly driven by technology.
Amid the rapid adoption of ChatGPT in 2023, the onus was on us as career services professionals to swiftly educate ourselves about the burgeoning suite of AI tools available to our clients. Recognizing their potential early on, we dove into understanding how these innovations could augment every facet of a jobseeker’s journey – from the initial career search and interviewing process to the nuanced crafting of resumes and cover letters. These tools are not just about efficiency. They can serve as beneficial and supplemental advice in partnership with the guidance a career coach provides.
However, most organizations haven’t adopted an enterprise-wide use of generative AI … yet. So, how can we continue to advise jobseekers, students and professionals to use AI tools in a productive way?
As a career professional, I started by asking myself: What are the easiest tools I can use with my clients that make sense for me and them? Assessing who your clients are is key: Students, entry-level professionals, middle managers and executives all have different career needs. What tools can help who and when?
I’ve identified several AI tools that help clients with the three issues that challenge them the most: researching, on-the-job help and interviewing. This is applicable at all organizational levels and at every stage of a career. Here are a few of my go-to AI apps and how I use them to help get my clients to a career they love.
Help with research
Perplexity uses large language models (LLM), learning techniques and large data sets to understand and generate human-like text, to provide insightful answers in a conversation-like tone. It is particularly useful for research and writing purposes. It assists with generating information, suggestions and solutions to summarize sources and simulate scenarios.
Perplexity uses Microsoft’s Co-Pilot AI to scour the internet for data and site sources. What I like about Perplexity is that it presents answers to your queries in a clean, easy-to-assess format. It includes relevant links to videos, news and images to support your inquiry. This enables the user to cross-check the answers that the AI provides, as we must be mindful of bias or outdated data points that AI can provide. There is a free version of Perplexity as well as a paid premium version of $20USD/month.
Consider this potential use case. An executive preparing for a board appointment application could use Perplexity to research the company’s background, market position and current board members’ profiles. The AI could help summarize relevant articles, analyze investment trends affecting the company, and even assist in drafting application documents. Furthermore, Perplexity could generate an outline to help the executive structure their application and interview responses based on that research. This tool offers an easy interface with supportive references, making it easy to use for those new to AI tools.
Here’s a great overview of what Perplexity can do.
Help on the job
GPT for HR is a platform designed to harness the power of GPT-3 specifically for HR applications, focusing on areas such as diversity, equity and inclusion. This free, crowd-sourced resource of prompts and other resources is specifically for HR and recruiting. Think of this tool as your own personal HR representative for your career.
For example, let’s say you have an individual preparing for an internal interview to transition from an individual contributor to a manager role within a non-profit organization. As a career coach internal to an organization, I’ve helped guide internal candidates to help them present themselves more effectively than their external competition. They could use GPT for HR to simulate interview scenarios, refine their responses to potential questions about leadership and management, and align their skills and experiences with the mission and values of the non-profit. Additionally, GPT for HR could assist in identifying questions that the candidate might ask the interviewers to demonstrate their strategic thinking and commitment to the non-profit’s goals.
Help with interviewing
Interviews by AI is an AI-powered platform designed to streamline the job interview preparation process. It allows users to input a job description and then generates realistic interview questions tailored to that role. A user can audio record their answers and receive instant AI feedback – and even an improved sample response. Leveraging technologies like GPT-4, Interviews by AI aims to provide realistic interview scenarios with actionable feedback, enhancing a candidate’s preparation and confidence. This tool differs from Chat GPT in the sense that the designed prompts or questions behind the scenes are meant to generate more specific interviewing scenarios, questions and answers for a variety of roles and positions.
Perhaps you have a university student seeking an internship in journalism. Interviews by AI would be an excellent tool for them to practise their interview skills. By inputting a detailed job description, the student would receive questions related to the skills and experiences sought by media companies. The platform’s feedback system would guide the student in refining their responses, ensuring they are well-prepared to articulate their qualifications and interest in journalism effectively. Additionally, the tool is free to use, which is particularly beneficial for students or entry-level jobseekers looking to practise without financial barriers.
Essential innovation
These are just a few of the AI platforms that can help career coaches provide quality guidance to their clients. Want to seek out your own tools? Of course, there is an AI database of all the available AI platforms.
As we live in a constantly changing, digital world, integrating AI tools into career development practices is not just innovative but essential. Used in collaboration with the personalized support provided by career professionals, AI tools can help us empower our clients, equipping them with the insights, preparation and confidence needed to thrive in a competitive job market.
